Sunday, April 24, 2016

30 Day Blog Challenge Day 24: My Best Physical Feature

This amount and thickness of hairlooks so much cuter on a baby thanit does on me.

I can definitely see the finish line now. Less than a week until my blog challenge is complete. Today's topic is much less uncomfortable than yesterday's but it's not exactly a fun one. It's to tell my best physical feature. Frankly, I don't think I have any great physical features. I've always been heavy except for a few years when I ran seriously, so it's definitely not my physique. I have nearly no hair anymore. I started having my dad's high forehead at a pretty young age, but now all that's on top of my head is little more than downy fuzz. I do have really nice thick hair on the back of my head, though. Speaking of my head, mine looks an awful lot like a balloon. When I have pictures taken with friends or my students, the first thing that strikes me is that my head looks gigantic next to everyone else's.

But I guess I have to come up with something positive to say about myself. I mean, I don't look like a bridge troll, exactly. I have been told that I have attractive eyes. They are blue with little flecks of gold in them. A number of people have commented on them over the years. So I guess that's a good feature.

But I think my best physical feature is my arms. And I don't mean my arms are super attractive. If I were to wear a tank top, no one would be wowed by my gun show. No, what I mean is that my arms are open. I give really good hugs to the people I love and to people who need them. I try really hard to be compassionate and loving. One of the ways I do that is by being a hugger.

I have had a lot of students whose only experience of a father figure has been a bad one. I try, in my small way, to fill that void for a short while for these kids. One of my students drew a picture of me (it was really quite well done) in which I'm holding a #1 Dad coffee mug. I was puzzled by that and asked why it didn't say #1 teacher. The student's answer made feel really good. He said that he felt like I was the unofficial class dad. I'm not trying to replace these kids' fathers. I'm just trying to show them that there are men who won't leave them or neglect them or abuse them. Men who will listen and cry with them and worry over them and hug them when they need it and, yes, call them to task when they need it, but in a way that doesn't make them feel like nothing. I like to know my students have learned from me, but when I get a note from a student at the end of the year that says he or she felt safe in my room and that I didn't just teach them about literature but about life, I've done my job.

Joe Stephens

Hi, I'm Joe. I hope you enjoy my blog.

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